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Bob Sears: Bald-faced liar, devious dissembler, or both?

Over the past four years, I’ve encountered a lot of people whose views about science, medicine, and vaccines I disagree with. Many of those people are quite angry with me; I’ve been accused of being everything from a paid propagandist for pharmaceutical companies to a baby killer. Still, for the most part, I firmly believe that the men and women who are driving the vaccine “debate” are motivated by their genuine conviction that they are doing what is best for children. They’re wrong, and the effects of their misguided beliefs are dangerous (and potentially deadly)—but I try to respect where they’re coming from and be compassionate about their situations.

Then there’s “Dr. Bob” Sears, a first-rate huckster who has made hundreds of thousands of dollars by getting parents to pay for the “alternative” vaccine schedule he peddles in The Vaccine Book. (As of mid-February, Bookscan, which typically captures about 70 percent of book sales, reported total sales of more than 130,000.) I wrote about Sears’s bestseller in The Panic Virus(if you’re interested in a more complete evisceration of Sears’s work, read Paul Offit’s analysis in Pediatrics). Here’s a brief portion of my analysis:

Sears’s questionable assertions are by no means limited to his recommended schedule. In The Vaccine Book, he says that “natural” immunity is more effective than immunity gained through vaccination and implies that parents whose unvaccinated children come down with infections don’t regret their decisions. The book’s most startling passage, however, is included under the heading “The Way I See It.” “Given the bad press for the MMR vaccine in recent years, I’m not surprised when a family . . . tells me they don’t want the MMR,” he writes. Because there’s so little risk of getting infected, “I don’t have much ammunition with which to try to change these parents’ minds.” He, does, however, advise them against talking to their friends about their concerns: “I also warn them not to share their fears with their neighbors, because if too many people avoid the MMR, we’ll likely see the diseases increase significantly.”

I went on to write about how Sears’s downplaying of vaccine-preventable diseases was particularly ironic given what occurred in San Diego in 2008, when “a seven-year-old boy who was later revealed to be one of Sears’s patients returned from a family vacation in Switzerland with the measles.” Eventually, 11 other children were infected and dozens more were quarantined (some for up to three weeks); it ended up being the largest outbreak in California in almost two decades and cost well over $100,000 to contain.

Sears’s involvement with patient zero was not some sort of secret: It was also reported in a December 19, 2008 episode of This American Life, in the middle of an interview with Sears himself. (You can hear that part of the broadcast—”That’s Dr. Bob Sears. … Dr. Bob, as people call him, is also the doctor for the non-vaccinating family that went to Switzerland”—here. For people interested in the whole show, Sears comes in just before the the 34-minute mark.) It was also reported in Sears’s hometown newspaper, The Orange County Register. I wasn’t the first person to write about it, and I wasn’t the last–but for some reason, Sears has decided now is the time to speak out about this–and he’s doing so in the comments of his latest Huffington Post vaccine scare-mongering lunacy.

Now, there are a number of odd things about Sears’s comment. First, he denies something that I’ve never accused him of—not in my book, not in an interview, not in a speech: letting a patient infected with measles sit in his office. Then, he misspells my name, which is either an illustration of how little he cares about getting things right or of his deviousness (or both)—because while I assume it’s true he’s never spoken to Seth Minooken, he most definitely has spoken to Seth Mnookin. You don’t need to take my word for it; as you can hear here, I actually taped the interview. That interview was just one part of a long series of back and forths I had with Sears and various staff members in his office. I think they’re revealing—and, in light of Sears’s claim that he’s never spoken to me (or someone whose name sounds an awful lot like mine), they’re worth discussing.

So here goes: On June 17, 2009, I sent an email to Bob Sears’s office asking if I could speak to him “for a book I’m writing” about vaccines. I received no response, so on June 23, I wrote back, saying, “I wanted to follow up on an email I sent last week in an effort to find a time to speak with Dr. Sears for a book I’m working on for Simon & Schuster about vaccines.”

This time, I did receive a response—not from Sears, but from a media relations staffer. Unfortunately, that response didn’t make a lot of sense: “Thank you for following up with me today, we’re excited at the possibility of working with you and your client. I’ll be in touch, by the end of the day, as promised.” Things became a bit clearer when I got another email the following morning:

I apologize for not getting back to you yesterday something came up that consumed my day. I’d like to put together a nice press kit for you but I’m not going to be able to get it to you until tomorrow. But, here’s something to start with. We get approximately 50,000 visits a month from Canadian users, 70% of our visits are first time visitors, 30% repeat. I have a report I’ll include in the press kit. We’d of course like to book as many impressions as you are willing to give us on a monthly basis, I believe you mentioned 8,000, would 10,000 be out of the question? We generally charge $15 cpm because of our specifically targeted audience, especially thevaccinebook.com is that in the price range you were expecting? Please respond with any general ideas/questions and like I said I’ll have a formal press kit for you tomorrow but at least you have some numbers to start with today. Also, what sort of tracking will be used and how would be bill according to tracking?

When I explained that I was not actually interested in advertising on Sears’s website but wanted to interview him, I was assured that Sears would be in touch in short order. After not hearing back for two more weeks, I emailed again; still, nothing. Finally, on July 14, Sears wrote to me, claiming that he’d emailed me previously but never heard back. (Perhaps he’d been emailing Seth Minooken.) We arranged a time to speak, but he didn’t answer his phone. We arranged a second time to talk, and finally, on July 21, 2009, we conducted our first interview; over the coming months, we spoke one more time and had several email exchanges.

Finally, it seems worth noting that during the entire time I was working on The Panic Virus, never once did a representative from a pharmaceutical company or a government official even obliquely discuss any type of financial arrangement. In fact, there were only two people who did: One of Sears’s office minions and the man Sears is embracing in the picture below: Andrew Wakefield.

Sears’s ethics aside, the deeper question is why HuffPo continues to allow him a platform. It’s funny you should mention This American Life, as the recent unpleasantries with Mike Daisey demonstrate how a reputable organization deals with a situation when their credibility is on the line. I’m just not sure why they think it’s responsible to affiliate with the likes of Sears.

Based on the comment that Catherina posted, Dr. Bob agrees that it is not for him “to decide if that risk is acceptable”. It is up to each parent.

I disagree when it comes to allowing highly infectious patients to sit in a waiting room. My pediatrician used to have a sign on the door asking that when patients have a rash that they wait outside until they can be given a first inspection by staff.

But, in other areas I agree to a point. I agree that I had the right to decide if he was worth the risk. He isn’t. Neither him, his alternative schedule nor his alternative medical treatment of autism were worth the risk. “Dr Bob” just makes me glad I have a good pediatrician for my family.

One point is that Sears says he tells the worried Mums that the risks of infection are low. Which currently they are since so many people are vaccinated, he doesn’t point out that bit. Then he tells them not to tell their neighbours and friends about their worries about the MMR because then the risks of infection will increase (as fewer people are vaccinated).

So nothing he says is untrue. It is openly based on taking advantage of the herd principle. If enough people are vaccinated, the unvaccinated get the benefits without needing to bother themselves. He can make his money from the vaccine-fearers as long as there aren’t too many of them.

The fact that one of his patients started an outbreak shows that he may have reached the useful limits of this ploy.

I believe that type of answer from Dr. Bob reveals a certain pathological personality (common among politicians as well) – when they are confronted with some level of dishonesty or error in their position, they will attempt to avoid the issue by creating a diversion – in this case, Dr. Bob answering a question that was never asked & acting like it was some kind of personal attack against him.

It plays very well into an established martyr complex at the same time.

It wasn’t supposed to be. It was about Dr. Bob’s denial to talking to Mr. Mnookin, the part where he says “NOR have I ever spoken with Seth” (it is in the box with screen shot of the HuffPo comment). The audio clip was proof that there was a conversation between them.

Caro, that is proof that the index case did not infect other children in Sears’ waiting room. Dr. Bob has admitted himself that the child (index case) is his patient (on the NPR interview and on the Dr. Oz Show), just that the transmission didn’t occur in his waiting room. Separate issues entirely. So Mr. Mnookin has nothing to retract.

Dr Bob is our Ped Doc and he has always been kind, thoughtful, and sensitive to what my child needs and what I need. Don’t get caught up in the hype on either end. Meet the man as he is intended – to be the doctor that helps guide you through tough roads when dealing with kids and health.

The fact that the child who contracted measles in Switzerland was a patient of Dr. Sears doesn’t really matter. It could have been any chikd, including a vaccinated child. We know vaccines do not have a 100% success rate. Parents who choose not to vaccinate their children know to assess the risks of both getting the vaccines or not. Dr. Sears bringing the facts to our attention regarding the ingredients and potential harmful effects of vaccines should be applauded. These are the facts. Many physicians are ruled by pharmaudical companies who push drugs on their patients (often to cover up symptoms than to address the underlying issues) and that to me is completely unethical. What is the cost of other outbreaks from various viruses that we contract on a yearly basis? I just don’t understand how people can say vaccines are are safe when we do not know what causes these developmental issues such as autism. There are countless stories of families who have given their children vaccines to have them completely regress in their behavior shortly after receiving the vaccine. How can these stories be discredited just because the CDC says its safe? I’m glad there has been a doctor brave enough to stand up and question what we are allowing to be injected into our children’s bodies. Modern medicine may be seemingly “curing” some serious illnesses, but we still don’t know fully how a young baby’s immune system can handle everything that’s bein injected into it from the moment they are born. Which may be causing many more problems down the road.

“Many physicians are ruled by pharmaudical companies who push drugs on their patients (often to cover up symptoms than to address the underlying issues) and that to me is completely unethical. ”

That’s a pretty vile accusation to make. As far as I know the only doctor who has been proved to be taking money to lie about symptoms was Dr. Wakefield, who got a big payday for his fraud.

” I just don’t understand how people can say vaccines are are safe when we do not know what causes these developmental issues such as autism.”

We don’t know what causes autism, but we’ve been able to exclude various possibilities. We know, for example, that “refrigerator mothers” don’t cause autism, and we know that vaccines don’t; both these false ideas were popular at one time, but did not pan out. If you refuse to accept the science on vaccines, are you also “unsure” about refrigerator moms?

I’m in general agreement with you about the anti-intellectualism and general nuttiness of Concernedparent, especially with respect to vaccines, but I do have to quibble a bit with your disagreement with Concerned’s assertion that “many physicians are ruled by pharmaceutical companies who push drugs on their patients”.

It’s really not a vile accusation to make, unless perhaps you believe that Concerned is suggesting that doctors are literally fraudulent or are explicitly bribed by drug companies to prescribe things they know to be of little benefit or are even harmful. You may, in fact, be right about that given the overall tenor of those remarks.

Either way, it’s not insane to suggest that there is much in the system that is disturbing, and I think the assertion that many docs are unwitting shills for big pharma has much truth to it. I could cite example after example in my own experiences as a doc, but in the interests of objectivity, I’d refer you to the work of ProPublica, whose series “Dollars For Docs” should be required reading; there’s also “White Coat, Black Hat” by Carl Elliott which is a good primer on some of the less palatable ways drug companies affect doc behavior. Plus there’s Marcia Angell’s classic, “The Truth About Drug Companies”…I could go on like this for a while.

I don’t mean to suggest that I hold forth with the anti-vaccine crowd, nor do I think that Sears or Wakefield are misunderstood geniuses or (worse), martyrs for a great cause. But your response of shock–shock! I tell you–at Concerned’s very legitimate distrust of the modern pharmaceutical industry is something I don’t understand. I thinks you protest too much.

The core of the anti-vaccine movement can’t be shaken from their beliefs no matter how much evidence is marshalled, but Seth didn’t have this audience in mind when he wrote Panic Virus. He was thinking about people who might have general misgivings about Big Pharma and the often perverse financial incentives that drive the American economy, of which medicine is a big chunk of that. Those people, who are frequently only casually acquainted with the science of vaccines, can be easily persuaded by the anti-vaccine crowd. To pretend that the financial structure of modern medicine is hunky-dory, or that Big Pharma doesn’t influence doctors in distinctly malodorous ways, is to engage in a strategy that will send these people straight into the arms of the anti-vaccinationists.

What a pity that the writer of this defaming article concludes that Dr. Sears is a huckster, a liar,oh, and he feels hurt because Dr. Bob spelled his name wrong in an email. Then has his SEO specialist make darn sure that this obscure blog is in the top 10 results in a search of “Dr. Bob Sears”. How embarrassing!

I’m the person who posted at Dr. Bob on his Huffington Post blog, and I mentioned to him that his deliberately unvaccinated seven-year-old patient returned from Switzerland where he contracted measles and was identified by the San Diego Department of Health and the CDC, as the “index patient” responsible for the huge 2008 measles outbreak

Dr. Bob, in turn, posted back at me in ALL CAPS and accused me of lying:

Perhaps, you should actually read the link I provided, as well as the MMWR article identifying Dr. Bob’s deliberately unvaccinated patient as the “index case” responsible for the measles outbreak in San Diego:

“…The index patient was an unvaccinated boy aged 7 years who had visited Switzerland with his family, returning to the United States on January 13, 2008. He had fever and sore throat on January 21, followed by cough, coryza, and conjunctivitis. On January 24, he attended school. On January 25, the date of his rash onset, he visited the offices of his family physician and his pediatrician. A diagnosis of scarlet fever was ruled out on the basis of a negative rapid test for streptococcus. When the boy’s condition became worse on January 26, he visited a children’s hospital inpatient laboratory, where blood specimens were collected for measles antibody testing; later that day, he was taken to the same hospital’s emergency department because of high fever 104°F (40°C) and generalized rash. No isolation precautions were instituted at the doctors’ offices or hospital facilities.

The boy’s measles immunoglobulin M (IgM) positive laboratory test result was reported to the county health department on February 1, 2008. During January 31–February 19, a total of 11 additional measles cases in unvaccinated infants and children aged 10 months–9 years were identified. These 11 cases included both of the index patient’s siblings (rash onset: February 3), five children in his school (rash onset: January 31–February 17), and four additional children (rash onset: February 6–10) who had been in the pediatrician’s office on January 25 at the same time as the index patient. Among these latter four patients, three were infants aged <12 months. One of the three infants was hospitalized for 2 days for dehydration; another infant traveled by airplane to Hawaii on February 9 while infectious.

Two generations of measles cases were identified. The first generation (eight cases) included the index patient's two siblings, two playmates from his school, and the four children from the pediatrician's office. The second generation cases included three children from the index patient's school: a sibling of a child from the first generation and two friends of one of the index patient's siblings (Figure). …"

How embarrassing that you, who knows nothing of Dr. Sears "alternative vaccine schedule" and his advice to parents to "hide within the herd" (encouraging them and their unvaccinated children to become "free riders"), come posting here.

As a parent of a 2 year old who goes to Dr. Bob Sears, I am happy to have a doctor who does not look to make money by peddling vaccines, or seeing my child too often, or charging an unreasonable amount of money because if his status. Having myself been played by doctors on more than one occasion, I refuse to be treated as the revenue source for medical industry. I am glad that there is a medical office close to where I live where I can get an expert advise that is not driven by greed.

“As a parent of a 2 year old who goes to Dr. Bob Sears, I am happy to have a doctor who does not look to make money by peddling vaccines, or seeing my child too often, or charging an unreasonable amount of money because if his status.”

Have you got any, um, proof, that physicians make money “by peddling vaccines”?

Have you got any, um, proof, that Dr. Bob’s “alternative vaccine schedule” is based in science?

How about ponying up some proof that Dr. Bob is knowledgeable about immunology, virology, bacteriology and the epidemiology of vaccine-preventable-diseases? Show us that Dr. Bob didn’t make stuff up, to pander to gullible, ignorant parents.

As a pediatrician who abhors the decline in vaccination rates caused by Dr. Bob Sears, I must counter your baseless claims. First, did you know, CDM Parent, that the highest concentration of whooping cough cases from the 2010 California pertussis outbreak clustered temporally and spatially quite well with where the highest rates of electively non-vaccinated children were–http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/132/4/624.full.html? Yes, that is the 2010 outbreak where 10 infants too young have been vaccinated DIED from pertussis–all because of parents mislead by Sears. Also, it was one of Dr. Sears’ unvaccinated patients that caused the 2008 Southern California measles outbreak (http://healthyliving.blog.ocregister.com/2008/12/29/ocs-dr-bob-sears-discusses-measle-outbreak-on-npr/1974/). Yeah, Dr. Bob sure gives folks “expert advice” on whether or not to vaccinate as evidenced by the fact that he contributed to the morbidity and mortality for both outbreaks above by way of his book and reckless vaccine “advice”. Instead of having his patients call him “Dr. Bob”, perhaps they should call him “Dr. Death and Disease”, eh, CDM Parent?

In response to your baseless charge that I make money “peddling” vaccines: (1) I give the vaccines that are FDA approved (each after years of rigorous testing), so I don’t “peddle” them. (2) I make–on a good day–10% over my purchase cost on those vaccines because that is all the insurance companies typically pay me. This amount I make is called “gross profit margin”. For your consideration, CDM Parent, Wal-Mart would not stay in business if they only made a gross profit margin of 10% (in fact they typically make 25% –please see http://ycharts.com/companies/WMT/gross_profit_margin). (3) I would actually do better financially if I didn’t vaccinate, given the costs of paying the nurses I hire to do vaccines.

Now, with regards to your visit to Dr. Sears for the care of your 2-year-old—let me show you where you are wrong in your statements about how Dr. Bob is not driven by greed. You say you go to him with your 2-year old. Well, if you don’t vaccinate at all, then there is no money for him to make on vaccines from your child getting them. But, if you do vaccinate, then you do so on a self-pay basis–as in Dr. Bob thinks he is oh-so-good that he won’t contract with any insurance carriers. If you vaccinate and “space out” your child’s vaccines (as Sears–without any scientific evidence–advocates–then he makes more money off vaccines than I do. He does this because he will charge you a nurse visit fee, as well as the price for the vaccine that Dr. Sears gets to set (unlike me, since I have to take what the insurance company feels is reasonable–again typically 10% over my cost). Dr. Sears can also charge you a shot administration fee. In my office if you are self-pay (that is about 2% of my families–I don’t practice in the wealthy area that Dr. Bob does, so very few families can afford to pay out of pocket, CDM parent) then that admin fee is $12 a shot. Also, CDM Parent, what I charge for a the actual vaccine to a self-pay parent is the average of what the insurance companies pay me on my patients with insurance, so I am not gouging them. I invite you, CDM parent, to compare that to what Dr. Bob charges for his shot admin fee (which I guarantee is a lot more), and if you want to email me what Dr. Bob charges you for each vaccine, I will gladly show proof that my vaccine prices are lower than his. Also, CDM parent, don’t forget that if you are spacing out shots, Dr. Bob also makes more of a profit off you than I do because he gets to charge more of those visit fees–which I can’t charge if a parent spaces out vaccines with me because the insurance carriers won’t pay for them. So….CDM parent, do you still want to claim that Dr. Bob Sears isn’t treating you as a “revenue source” for HIMSELF?

Also, CDM parent, in 2012 I contacted the publisher of Dr. Bob’s so-called “Vaccine Book”. They told me they had sold over 250,000 copies of his book. SOLD–as in “for profit” sold, CDM Parent. Now do you see anywhere posted by Dr. Sears that he doesn’t keep profits from his book? I don’t. Even if Sears only made $1 per copy (a modest estimate), he has made over $250,000 on a book with made-up vaccine schedules. For reference, you don’t have to pay a single cent to get the official, tested CDC schedule. Also, of course, the whole Sears family sells all sorts of “supplements” on their web site—for at least one of which they got busted for selling with misleading advertising–http://web.archive.org/web/20060721171257/http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/personal-finance/producttestimonialtricks-of-the-trade-106/index.htm. I don’t sell supplements at my practice or on my web site. I don’t make money selling sponsor ad-spaces on my web site. I don’t make money writing lame books with no science behind them. I don’t make money selling my name for product endorsements. But Dr. Bob and the Sears family do. Do you really think they sell all that out of the kindness of their hearts?

For you to say Dr. Sears is not driven by greed, whereas somehow I am is just plan LUDICROUS. As a pediatrician who rightfully believes that Dr. Roberts Sears MD, FAAP is guilty of medical malpractice, I hope you’ve been given reason to understand why “Dr. Bob” is playing you much more so than you think any prior pediatrician you might have seen has played you.

Dr Sears “The Vaccine Book” is actually what made us change our minds and get our child fully vaccinated… It definitely wasn’t anti vaccine to us. It explained how serious these diseases are… Have you all actually read the book?

The alternative schedule is just for those parents that previously had concerns about the standard schedule, so that hopefully they’ll decide to get vaccinated having been given more information and a “possibly” less risky schedule.

If you’d bother to read the book you’d know that he recommends the standard schedule over the alternative… And also states that there’s no evidence that the alternative makes any difference… But based on the limited studies available on aluminum etc, it *may* be a safer option to those overly concerned by the lack of data in that area.

So, since there’s so many experts here on vaccine safety, could someone kindly point me to the study that shows how they tested injected aluminum in babies using the amounts used in vaccines and monitored the affects in the body… Where does it accumulate? What are the toxic levels? How long does it stay in the body?

Why won’t anyone do these studies?
Dr Offit says “look at the data” … A bit difficult when that data doesn’t exist.

The Orange County Health Director, Dr. David Nunez, in a recent radio interview (http://www.kcrw.com/media-player/mediaPlayer2.html?type=audio&id=ww140331pair_of_quakes_signa) on March 31st that the measles cases were clustered in small pocket in central and southern Orange County (the interview is the first 8.5 minutes of the podcast, FYI). Also Dr. Bob Sears was brought up later in the interview–Dr. Bob Sears brought up by host : Dr. Nunez believes he (Sears) is spreading anti-vaccine fears based on focus groups done by the OC Health Dept where parents who electively not vaccinated their children reported Sears book influenced them to NOT vaccinate.

Also (forgot to mention) that Dr. Nunez also mentions that the measles cases clustered in the southern area of Orange County, which is where Sears practices and also where the school districts have some of the highest elective non-vaccination rates in Orange County.

“They say that the aluminum in vaccines (an adjuvant, or component of the vaccine designed to enhance the body’s immune response) is harmful to children.
But children consume more aluminum in natural breast milk than they do in vaccines, and far higher levels of aluminum are needed to cause harm.”

“So, since there’s so many experts here on vaccine safety, could someone kindly point me to the study that shows how they tested injected aluminum in babies using the amounts used in vaccines and monitored the affects in the body… Where does it accumulate? What are the toxic levels? How long does it stay in the body?

Why won’t anyone do these studies?
Dr Offit says “look at the data” … A bit difficult when that data doesn’t exist.”

Sure, happy to provide a recent article about aluminum adjuvants in vaccines and their record of safety for the past 70 years:

Aluminum-containing adjuvants have been used for more than 70 years in billions of doses of vaccines, and have an excellent safety record (Butler et al., 1969; Edelman, 1980; Jefferson et al., 2004). The maximum amount of aluminum adjuvant allowed in human vaccines in the US is 0.85 mg Al/dose, and the amount in licensed vaccines ranges from 0.125 to 0.85 mg Al/dose (Baylor et al., 2002). Aluminum is an abundant metal in the environment and is daily ingested in food and water (Willhite et al., 2012). Aluminum is also commonly used in antacids and antiperspirants. However, only small amounts of aluminum are absorbed via the intestinal barrier and the skin. Most of the aluminum is excreted via the kidneys. Aluminum toxicity from occupational exposure, renal disease, and parenteral nutrition is associated with neurologic disease and bone disease (Willhite et al., 2012). The pharmacokinetics of aluminum following intramuscular injection of AH and AP (0.85 mg/dose) was studied in rabbits using the rare 26Al isotope as a tracer (Flarend et al., 1997). The data indicated that 17% of AH and 51% of AP was released into the blood circulation over a 28 day period. Based on these and other data, it was recently estimated that the concentration of aluminum in blood derived from vaccines administered to infants during the first year of life remains well below the minimum risk level established by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (Mitkus et al., 2011)….”

Are you aware that Dr. Bob Sears put a rant up on his Facebook page about the major measles outbreaks occurring across the United States? Here, see his rant by scrolling down to see that rant, saved for posterity, after it mysteriously disappeared from his Facebook page:

Why is it that every time there are a few cases of measles, everyone panics? I just don’t get it. So, here’s the situation in the O.C., where I live and practice. Seven cases. Seven. That’s 7. Not 700, not a million. Seven. So, why do people panic? Here’s one reason: the ^$#@*&%&*$# media. News reports go out stating that there are outbreaks of measles, and everyone needs to be concerned. Everyone is quick to blame those who don’t vaccinate, AND those who don’t vaccinate start to panic. We’ve gotten dozens of calls to our office with people wanting to know if they should come in for the vaccine.
Here’s my take on it:
EVERY single year in the U.S. we have measles – between 50 and 150 cases. Last year there were two large outbreaks – 58 cases in New York and over 20 in Texas. Both those outbreaks died out. No one has died from measles in the U.S. in over 10 years. So, there is ALWAYS the potential for measles. ALWAYS. If you choose not to do the vaccine, then you just have to accept that fact, and not panic whenever you hear the “M” word. You’ve lived with this risk for years, so why panic just because there are 7 cases in the county you live in? This year there will be more than usual, the way it’s looking so far, but it’s not a reason to panic. Make your choice – do vaccine, or don’t do the vaccine.
So, when SHOULD someone worry? If an actual direct exposure has occurred from a known case, then you might be at risk. This doesn’t mean a case in the county in which you live: it means that you’ve actually been in the same room with someone who has had measles. Or, at the most, maybe the same building. But transmission almost always requires close proximity (same room). There have been a handful of cases over the decades in which someone sitting across a stadium has caught it, but that is almost unheard of. You have to be in the same room, people. If THAT happens, call me. If not, then just relax and go about your life as usual.

IF we see more cases, I’ll let you know. Actually, just to give you a heads up, we probably WILL see a few more cases. But virtually all measles outbreaks are limited to 10 to 20 cases in any given county. So, the chance that any one of your unvaccinated children is going to be a case is very very very very very small. I love you all, and love caring for you all. But just chill out. Measles will never go away – it’s always going to be a very small risk. If you aren’t comfortable with that, get the vaccine. If you don’t want the vaccine, accept the risk.”

There are 335 confirmed cases of measles 2014 YTD with major outbreaks in New York, Ohio and California:

Thanks so much for the replies, and specially links to the studies – that’s exactly the kind of info I was hoping for… well I haven’t checked them out yet, but I’m hoping to find some good info in there to prove these other studies false 🙂

Actually, if anyone has anything to prove this additional info below wrong – I’d be very interested:

The FDA has noted specifically that, regarding aluminum toxicity “Generally, when medication and nutrition are administered orally, the gastrointestinal tract acts as an efficient barrier to the absorption of aluminum, and relatively little ingested aluminum actually reaches body tissues. However, parenterally administered drug products containing aluminum bypass the protective mechanism of the gastrointestinal tract and aluminum circulates and is deposited in human tissues.”

In 1996, the American Academy of Pediatrics published a policy paper entitled “Aluminum Toxicity in Infants and Children” which concluded in part that aluminum can cause neurologic harm and that the toxic threshold of aluminum in the bloodstream may be lower than 100 mcg per litre. It also noted that while adults tolerated the aluminum in antacids, there were reports of infants with healthy kidneys showing elevated blood levels of aluminum from taking antacids. The paper does not mention aluminum in vaccines.

COMMITTEE ON NUTRITION Aluminum Toxicity in Infants and Children Pediatrics 1996 97: 413-416.

In addition, a recent 2007 study out of the University of British Columbia & Louisiana State University has demonstrated that aluminum hydroxide commonly used in vaccines is causing neuron death and motor impairment when injected in adult mice. [Petrik et al. “Aluminum Adjuvant Linked to Gulf War Illness Induces Motor Neuron Death in Mice” (2007) 9 NeuroMolecular Medicine 83-100). The authors demonstrated that mice injected with comparable levels of aluminum hyrdroxide adjuvant as found in the anthrax vaccine showed significant motor and developmental impairment and neuron death. The experiments provided the mice with 2 injections (2 weeks apart) to mimic the aluminum contained in theAnthrax vaccine. A single dose of the AVA vaccine contains 2.4 mg of aluminum hydroxide (equivalent to 0.83 mg of aluminum). The researchers conclude that:

“… the continued use of aluminum adjuvants in various vaccines (i.e., Hepatitis A and B, DPT and so on) for the general public may have even more widespread health implications. Until vaccine safety can be comprehensively demonstrated by controlled long term studies that examine the impact on the nervous system in detail, many of those already vaccinated as well as those currently receiving injections may be at risk in the future. Whether the risk of protection from a dreaded disease outweighs the risk of toxicity is a question that demands urgent attention.” (p.96)

Abstract
Aluminum is an experimentally demonstrated neurotoxin and the most commonly used vaccine adjuvant. Despite almost 90 years of widespread use of aluminum adjuvants, medical science’s understanding about their mechanisms of action is still remarkably poor. There is also a concerning scarcity of data on toxicology and pharmacokinetics of these compounds. In spite of this, the notion that aluminum in vaccines is safe appears to be widely accepted. Experimental research, however, clearly shows that aluminum adjuvants have a potential to induce serious immunological disorders in humans. In particular, aluminum in adjuvant form carries a risk for autoimmunity, long-term brain inflammation and associated neurological complications and may thus have profound and widespread adverse health consequences. In our opinion, the possibility that vaccine benefits may have been overrated and the risk of potential adverse effects underestimated, has not been rigorously evaluated in the medical and scientific community. We hope that the present paper will provide a framework for a much needed and long overdue assessment of this highly contentious medical issue.

Abstract
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are serious multisystem developmental disorders and an urgent global public health concern. Dysfunctional immunity and impaired brain function are core deficits in ASD. Aluminum (Al), the most commonly used vaccine adjuvant, is a demonstrated neurotoxin and a strong immune stimulator. Hence, adjuvant Al has the potential to induce neuroimmune disorders. When assessing adjuvant toxicity in children, two key points ought to be considered: (i) children should not be viewed as “small adults” as their unique physiology makes them much more vulnerable to toxic insults; and (ii) if exposure to Al from only few vaccines can lead to cognitive impairment and autoimmunity in adults, is it unreasonable to question whether the current pediatric schedules, often containing 18 Al adjuvanted vaccines, are safe for children? By applying Hill’s criteria for establishing causality between exposure and outcome we investigated whether exposure to Al from vaccines could be contributing to the rise in ASD prevalence in the Western world. Our results show that: (i) children from countries with the highest ASD prevalence appear to have the highest exposure to Al from vaccines; (ii) the increase in exposure to Al adjuvants significantly correlates with the increase in ASD prevalence in the United States observed over the last two decades (Pearson r=0.92, p<0.0001); and (iii) a significant correlation exists between the amounts of Al administered to preschool children and the current prevalence of ASD in seven Western countries, particularly at 3-4 months of age (Pearson r=0.89-0.94, p=0.0018-0.0248). The application of the Hill's criteria to these data indicates that the correlation between Al in vaccines and ASD may be causal. Because children represent a fraction of the population most at risk for complications following exposure to Al, a more rigorous evaluation of Al adjuvant safety seems warranted.

Abstract
We have examined the neurotoxicity of aluminum in humans and animals under various conditions, following different routes of administration, and provide an overview of the various associated disease states. The literature demonstrates clearly negative impacts of aluminum on the nervous system across the age span. In adults, aluminum exposure can lead to apparently age-related neurological deficits resembling Alzheimer's and has been linked to this disease and to the Guamanian variant, ALS-PDC. Similar outcomes have been found in animal models. In addition, injection of aluminum adjuvants in an attempt to model Gulf War syndrome and associated neurological deficits leads to an ALS phenotype in young male mice. In young children, a highly significant correlation exists between the number of pediatric aluminum-adjuvanted vaccines administered and the rate of autism spectrum disorders. Many of the features of aluminum-induced neurotoxicity may arise, in part, from autoimmune reactions, as part of the ASIA syndrome.

After spending more time than I ever expected looking for more info on this – mostly due to my lack of knowledge (and of everyone I asked), plus with all the garbage that is out there – I’ll blame that for me not locating that blog 😉 Plus I probably was getting a bit lazy and hoped that someone here had some links on the ready. Sorry about that.

Please provide the PubMed indexed studies by reputable qualified researchers (not Shaw) that specifically compare the risk of the DTaP vaccine with an adjuvant causes much more harm than the toxins created by the bacteria that cause diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis.

I am curious how the most common metal on this planet’s crust is more dangerous than those bacterial infections.

“I was particularly amused by the use of the old antivaccinationist shibboleth that exposure by injection is more dangerous than exposure from diet. To justify this, they point out that only a fraction of oral exposure is absorbed (while neglecting mentioning that due to the high dietary exposure, that fraction is still much greater than vaccine exposure), and also arguing that maybe the Al persists for long periods of time at the site of injection, only being slowly absorbed into the bloodstream. This might be relevant if the adverse effect being studies was something like ulcers at the injection site, but to be neurotoxic, it has to get to the brain, which means that it has to get into the bloodstream. So if a large fraction of the Al is tied up in deposits at the site of injection, being absorbed only slowly, that means that the blood levels will be low (in which case, obviously, vaccine derived Al in the blood will be will be dwarfed by Al derived from exposure, which is pretty much continuous).”

I’m so glad I stumbled on this blog in my searching – where people actually know what they’re talking about – thanks everyone 🙂

Though going back to “The Vaccine Book” – it is still funny that it actually made me want to vaccinate even more than before I read it 😉
The way it details the various diseases (I would think) would have to make most parents at least reconsider any anti-vaccine thoughts they may have had prior to reading it – it’s only further along in the book that the questions about Aluminum and Mercury come up – though since they’re said to be unknowns in the book, Sears still recommends doing the standard vaccine schedule (at least in the earlier edition I read).

I noticed many of the one star reviews of the book on Amazon are from antivaccinationists that weren’t happy that his ultimate recommendations in the book was still to vaccinate – clearly they were under the impression that it was a true anti-vaccination book and that’s clearly why they bought it – pretty much confirming their bias 😉 Though, in a way also showing that the book isn’t as “anti” as so many make it out to be… making it out to be more anti can be a good thing too, as it might make more people in the anti camp read something a little less anti than they’re used to doing – and maybe finally seeing the light 😉 – specially if it encourages some debate that gives us all some better understanding of the concerns and whether or not they hold any water.
But at the same time, it’s still best to make sure we’re sticking with facts to avoid those types of things being used against us.

Me, I don’t care about the politics of it all, any fallacious arguments, unrelated topics etc that tend to get dragged into pro/anti arguments – I just want the facts, which ever way they may fall. Even though I have to admit, I was really counting on the pro-side of things coming through… since that ultimately makes everything so much easier 😉

Thanks again for your time – and sorry for the overly long posts – I tend to get a bit carried away sometimes.

Whether you agree or not agree vaccines should be the choice of the parent and what is best for their childs needs. If you are consuming toxins at an alarming rate which I think we are by eating meats and produce with antibiotics and hormones, pesticides then by all means vaccinate on the preferred schedule but when a doctor gives you an alternative and isnt saying not to vaccinate dont criticize him. He is not saying not to vaccinate he is simply saying to not overload a childs system whos immune system is not developed yet by administering 2 vaccines at a time that do not contain high levels of mercury. You are picking him apart and your post is very disturbing

Lots of doctors are questioning the current vaccine schedule not just Dr. Bob
While it’s true that most doctors do not have a thorough education on vaccine risk and injury Dr.Bob does. Of course he didn’t write a book without researching the issue first. Parents need to read vaccine inserts and make educated informed decisions. Parents need to decide whether the risks are worth taking or not. Parents need to be aware of their own families history of risk or injury from vaccines. Pharmaceutical companies make much more money from their vaccines than Dr Bob does from his book.
VAERS is an important resource for parents that have vaccine injured children.